Chapter 3
Ivan’s gaze doesn’t stray from mine as he waits for me to respond.
This is what I was waiting for him to say the moment he revealed who my father was.
What am I supposed to say to that? I don’t know anything about the royal court. I have no idea how to even be in the presence of anyone royal, let alone lead an entire nation.
I’m a bookstore owner, for crying out loud.
“I’m not quite sure what to say,” is all I can settle on.
He offers me a sad smile and says, “You’ll have help. You’re not expected to do this alone. Our success, the kingdom’s success, relies on you being the queen. You’ll undergo lessons before your formal coronation. You’ll have an entire support system to help you through this.”
“What if I say no? What if I don’t want to do this?”
He tilts his head and offers me that sad smile again. He reaches into his desk and places a document on the worn wooden surface.
“I wish I could honor that request. Your father’s will names you as heir to the throne.
Aside from that, the moment you were born, you were born a High Princess.
And the moment the royal family died, you became next in line to be the High Queen.
The only way to stop this is to get married, birth an heir, and then abdicate the throne.
You can delegate all the responsibilities to your council and essentially be a figurehead for the kingdom, or you can be actively involved in ruling.
While there is some choice, there isn’t a choice on whether or not you are the High Queen. ”
I take the document from the table. Despite the heaviness of the news, the white envelope is light in my hands. I slide a finger underneath the seal and remove the will.
Ivan is right. Should every other possible heir die, my name is listed as the next High Queen of the Woodland Kingdom and Queen of the Deer Court. My father’s signature is scrawled at the bottom of the page.
King Silas Fairbarn
I study the scrawl of the S and try to envision him sitting here, signing his will. Writing my name.
Queen of the Deer.
High Queen of The Woodland Kingdom.
I lift my head. Through the window behind Ivan, a doe dips her head to snack on the mossy ground. Sun filters through the treetops. It’s a beautiful day out, a stark contrast to yesterday and a welcome change.
“I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” Ivan says, pulling my focus back to him.
“Yes. First one: Are you sure this isn’t a joke?” I ask, trying—and failing—to laugh at my own joke. Instead, I give some sort of awkward half-smile. Humor has always been my favorite coping mechanism.
He returns the smile, but it looks more like it’s full of pity.
“Of that, I am positive. I know this is a lot. We have a lot to discuss today, but first, I’d like to introduce you to the Herd and show you around the grounds.”
I’m not sure who the Herd are, but I nod slowly as I struggle to keep up with my racing thoughts and the questions that are fighting for space in my brain, fighting for the chance to land on my tongue, my lips, and out into the open air.
One question makes its way, though. It’s been stuck vying for space for the last twenty-five years, and I can’t help but ask it: “Who was my mother?”
Although my mother was her sister, Willa never spoke of her. Whenever I asked about her, Willa would either pretend like I didn’t ask, or she’d promise to tell me later.
She never did. I eventually stopped asking.
To my surprise, Ivan smiles at the question like he knew her. Hope blossoms in my chest.
“Her name was Orla.”
Orla. My mother’s name was Orla. I fight the urge to repeat the name, to feel the way it sounds coming from my mouth.
“Did you know her?” I ask, trying desperately to keep the hope out of my voice.
“I knew of her, but I didn’t know her personally.”
“What did you know of her?” This time, the hope comes through. I can’t help it. I’ve been yearning for information about my mother for twenty-five years.
Ivan nods, that smile of pity back on his face. “She was a High Fae Princess. A powerful one who was well-loved by the Fae Kingdom.” He nods toward me. “You have her hair.”
I resist the urge to reach for the white-blonde locks that rest on my shoulder. “My mother and father…What happened to them? Why didn’t they get married? Did my father cheat on Queen Adelaide?”
Am I the bastard princess?
He holds his hands up, palms facing me. “No, you were born before Etta, actually. If you had chosen to be a part of the court, you would have been first in line for the throne.”
That word again: chosen. But I wasn’t given the choice.
Ivan continues before I can ask about that.
“It’s a long story, but the short answer is that Adenahall was experiencing a resurgence of witches and black magic around that time.
When we offered to help, the Fae Kingdom declined the offer.
Unfortunately, the witches’ resurgence was too much of a concern for your grandfather, King Carinu, and he decided that it would no longer be in the court’s best interest for your father to marry Princess Orla.
And it was the right choice. Their kingdom fell shortly after that. ”
“Why couldn’t they still get married?”
He sighs, almost as if the question has been bugging him for the last twenty-five years, too.
“Marriage is different in the royal kingdom. Its purpose is to unify and strengthen courts. By marrying princes and princesses from other courts, we create alliances between the Houses to ensure there is peace throughout the land. Because your grandfather was concerned about the stability of the Fae Kingdom—and rightly so—he called off the engagement and ordered your father to marry Princess Adelaide from House Panthera instead.”
“Ordered?” I ask, one eyebrow raised.
“Yes. Your father was devastated, but there was nothing he could do.”
I frown. There’s always something that can be done. “I take it I was conceived during the courting process?” I ask Ivan. His cheeks turn a light shade of pink, and he shifts in his chair.
He clears his throat. “Yes, that is my best guess. Your parents saw a lot of each other during the courting process. Your father…he didn’t know that Orla was pregnant.”
“How did he find out?”
He pauses, his gaze sharpening at the question. “Willa contacted us.”
Now it’s my turn to freeze. “What do you mean? You said that my father reached out to Willa, not the other way around.”
He hesitates. “Well…yes, but after you were born, Willa brought us a letter from your mother explaining the pregnancy and your true lineage. Your father, unfortunately, did not believe the contents of the letter until years later when he saw you. When he did, he reached back out to Willa and offered to be involved in your life, but she declined the offer.”
“I don’t understand. Why didn’t he believe her?” I ask.
“Your grandfather believed it was a ploy for the Fae to regain their stature.” He winces as the words land.
I had a father. A half-sister. A stepmother. A whole family that I never knew. I always assumed my father abandoned my mother. Turns out, it was me he abandoned.
Ivan clears his throat. “I’m sorry, Mae…I assumed you knew all of this.”
I shake my head and force a smile on my face. “It’s okay. I’m glad I know now.” I table the remaining questions I have and push them to the side to dissect later. “So, I’ll have to marry someone from another court?” I change the subject.
He nods eagerly, likely grateful for the shift in conversation.
“Yes. Traditionally, marriages within the royal kingdom are arranged by the ruling king and queen to ensure the most powerful alliances are established. However, because there’s no ruling king or queen, your situation is a bit different. ”
“How so?”
“Like I said, normally, your husband would be selected for you by the High King or Queen. Because there is no ruling High King or Queen, you get to choose,” he says, looking at me with a smile, like this is great news. I don’t return it.
“Why do I have to marry someone at all? Why can’t I just rule as High Queen?” I ask.
“Royal law dictates that you must marry. There’s no way around that. Your father was trying to change the way the royal court worked, but he still had a long way to go.”
“Okay…How soon does that have to happen?”
“Ideally, the High Princess would already be married before her coronation and transition to High Queen. The law mandates that you must be married no longer than three months after your coronation.”
“And when is my coronation?”
He grimaces. “It’s in a week.”
I stare at him for several seconds, my jaw clenched tightly so it doesn’t drop to the floor.
“One week. Okay. One week, then I’m the queen. Then three months after that, I’m marrying someone I’ve yet to meet,” I say, repeating the facts as I try to come to terms with them. “When do I meet the princes?”
He smiles at me, but it looks forced. “We will host a formal coronation dinner. They will be the only attendees. However, you should know that after that, they will remain on the grounds until you’ve selected one to be the High King.”
Instead of asking the millions of questions that are racing through my brain, I just nod.
He continues, “Over the next week, you’ll receive lessons from one of our most trusted court members. She will teach you everything you need to know about the royal kingdom, royal etiquette, the different courts, and of course, the different princes.”
He takes a deep breath before continuing.
“I need to warn you, Mae, the kingdom will be watching you closely. There is no precedent for this. No member of the reigning family has been murdered in our history. There has never been a king or queen that has come to rule in this way, let alone one who wasn’t raised within the court.
Then, you’re adding a courting process to the marriage. ”
My stomach drops. Being the center of attention was never my strong suit.
“It’s my recommendation that you stay on the grounds until further notice,” Ivan says. “We’re not sure who murdered the royal family, and we don’t know if they’ll try to harm you once we announce you as the next queen.”
The blood drains from my face at his words. I hadn’t even considered that. I table that line of thinking for now before asking, “How much does everyone know? About me?”
“Virtually nothing. It’s a bit chaotic right now. The kingdom knows the royal family was murdered and that there’s no acting king or queen right now. This makes our court incredibly vulnerable, so we must make an announcement as soon as possible.”
“And when will that be?” I ask.
“With your permission, I’d like to make the announcement by the end of the day.”
I nod in consent. I’m not sure what other choice I have.
The entire kingdom will know I’m the High Princess in a matter of hours.